U.S. patent number 5,893,593 [Application Number 08/890,428] was granted by the patent office on 1999-04-13 for latch device used in vehicle door.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mitsui Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Patrick J. Dowling.
United States Patent |
5,893,593 |
Dowling |
April 13, 1999 |
Latch device used in vehicle door
Abstract
A relay assembly for a vehicle sliding door comprises an outer
opening lever mounted on a base plate for releasing a latch unit by
operation of an outside open handle, a locking lever mounted on the
base plate and having an unlocked position and a locked position,
an inner opening lever mounted on the base plate for releasing the
latch unit by operation of an inside open handle, a child-proof
lever mounted on the base plate and having a non-proof position and
a proof position, and a ratchet lever mounted on the base plate and
coupled to the latch unit through a rod or wire. The locking lever
and child-proof lever are pivotally mounted on the base plate by a
first shaft, and are provided on opposite sides of the base plate,
respectively. The inner opening lever and outer opening lever are
pivotally mounted on the base plate by a second shaft parallel to
the first shaft, and are provided on opposite sides of the base
plate, respectively.
Inventors: |
Dowling; Patrick J.
(Yamanashi-ken, JP) |
Assignee: |
Mitsui Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki
Kaisha (Tokyo, JP)
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Family
ID: |
16414246 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/890,428 |
Filed: |
July 9, 1997 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jul 10, 1996 [JP] |
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8-199823 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
292/336.3;
292/169.11; 292/216; 292/DIG.53; 292/DIG.46 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E05B
83/36 (20130101); E05B 77/26 (20130101); E05B
77/265 (20130101); E05B 81/16 (20130101); Y10T
292/0978 (20150401); Y10T 292/57 (20150401); Y10S
292/53 (20130101); Y10S 292/46 (20130101); Y10T
292/1047 (20150401); E05B 81/06 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E05B
65/20 (20060101); E05B 65/12 (20060101); E05B
003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;292/336.3,169.11,DIG.46,DIG.27,216,DIG.65,DIG.53 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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7-82939 |
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Mar 1995 |
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JP |
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0791080 |
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Feb 1958 |
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GB |
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Primary Examiner: Meyers; Steven
Assistant Examiner: Vaterlaus; Clifford B.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Browdy & Neimark
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In a vehicle sliding door having a latch unit provided at a rear
edge of the sliding door for maintaining a closed condition of the
sliding door, an outside open handle provided on an outer surface
of the sliding door, an inside open handle provided on an inner
surface of the sliding door, a relay assembly provided within the
sliding door for connecting the outside and inside open handle to
the latch unit, an inside lock button provided on the inner surface
of the sliding door, and a child-proof button provided on the
sliding door, said relay assembly comprising:
a base plate fixed to the sliding door;
an outer opening lever rotatably mounted on the base plate and
coupled to the outside open handle and the latch unit to release
the latch unit when the outside open handle is operated;
a locking lever rotatably mounted on the base plate and coupled to
the inside lock button, said locking lever having an unlocked
position in which the locking lever interconnects the outer opening
lever and the latch unit and a locked position in which the locking
lever disconnects the outer opening lever and the latch unit;
an inner opening lever rotatably mounted on the base plate and
coupled to the inside open handle and the outer opening lever to
rotate the outer opening lever when the inside open handle is
operated;
a child-proof lever rotatably mounted on the base plate and coupled
to the child-proof button, said child-proof lever having a
non-child-proof position in which the child-proof lever
interconnects the inner opening lever and the outer opening lever
and a child-proof position in which the child-proof lever
disconnects the inner opening lever and the outer opening
lever;
wherein said locking lever and said child-proof lever are pivotally
mounted on the base plate by a first shaft.
2. The sliding door according to claim 1, wherein said locking
lever and said child-proof lever are provided on opposite sides of
the base plate, respectively.
3. The sliding door according to claim 1, wherein said outer
opening lever is connected with an open-position holder provided on
the sliding door.
4. The sliding door according to claim 1, wherein said inner
opening lever and said outer opening lever are pivotally mounted on
the base plate by a second shaft parallel to the first shaft.
5. The sliding door according to claim 4, wherein said inner
opening lever and said outer opening lever are provided on opposite
sides of the base plate, respectively.
6. The sliding door according to claim 4, wherein said inner
opening lever and said child-proof lever are provided on one side
of the base plate, and said locking lever and said outer opening
lever are provided on the other side of the base plate.
7. The sliding door according to claim 4, wherein said outer
opening lever is connected with an open-position holder provided on
the sliding door.
8. The sliding door according to claim 4, further comprising a
ratchet lever rotatably mounted on the base plate and coupled to
the latch unit through a rod or wire, said locking lever having a
locking pin which transmits rotational force of the outer opening
lever to the ratchet lever when in the unlocked position, and which
does not transmit the rotational force of the outer opening lever
to the ratchet lever when in the locked position.
9. The sliding door according to claim 8, wherein said ratchet
lever is pivotally mounted on the base plate by the second
shaft.
10. The sliding door according to claim 8, wherein said outer
opening lever is connected with an open-position holder provided on
the sliding door.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a latch device used in a vehicle
door, and in particular to a compact latch device having a door
opening mechanism, a locking mechanism and a child-proof
mechanism.
RELATED ART
A conventionally well-known latch device for holding a vehicle door
in a closed condition incorporates therein a latch unit which has a
latch adapted to be engaged with a striker fixed to a vehicle body,
and a ratchet for holding the engagement between the latch and the
striker; a door opening mechanism which has a ratchet lever coupled
to the ratchet of the latch unit, and outer and inner opening
levers coupled to outside and inside open handles of the door,
respectively, for rotating the ratchet lever so as to release the
latch unit; and a locking mechanism which has a locking lever
coupled to an inside button of the door for disabling opening
operation of the opening mechanism. Further, the well-known latch
device may optionally incorporate a child-proof mechanism which has
a child-proof lever for disabling opening operation of the inner
opening lever.
The above-mentioned mechanisms are in general attached to a latch
body of the latch unit for housing therein the latch and the
ratchet in a swing type door, but are attached at a place distant
from the latch body if the door is of a slide type.
The levers in the mechanisms are supported with the use of a
plurality of shafts. For example, a latch device disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 4,487,441 comprises a first shaft (60) for supporting an
outer opening lever (58), a second shaft (54) for supporting an
inner opening lever (52), a third shaft (34) for supporting a
locking lever (32), a fourth shaft (42) for supporting a
child-proof lever (40) and a fifth shaft (80) for supporting the
ratchet lever (78). Since each of the shafts has only one lever in
this conventional latch device, the number of components is large
so that the latch device can hardly be made to be compact.
A latch device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,453 comprises a
first shaft (9) for supporting an outer opening lever (15) and a
ratchet lever (12), a second shaft (58) for supporting an inner
opening lever (60), a third shaft (68) for supporting a locking
lever (52), and a fourth shaft for supporting a child-proof lever.
In this conventional latch device, there is only one common shaft
among these shafts.
Further, a latch device disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 4,492,395
discloses a first shaft (48) for supporting an outer opening lever
(53), an inner opening lever (68) and a ratchet lever (47), a
second shaft (85) for supporting a locking lever (81) and a third
shaft (112) for supporting a child-proof lever (47). In this latch
device, the first shaft supports three levers, but the remaining
two shafts each support only one lever.
Further, a latch device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No.
7-82939, as shown in FIG. 1, has a common shaft c for supporting an
inner opening lever a and a child-proof lever b. However, the
child-proof lever b in this latch device is not the one which is
rotated around the common shaft c but is adapted to slide along an
elongated hole d so as to be changed over between a child-proof
position and a non-child proof position as shown in FIG. 2.
Accordingly, the feeling of manipulation of the child-proof lever b
is unsatisfactory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a
compact latch device in which levers in a locking mechanism and a
child-proof mechanism are supported by a single shaft so that it
can be manipulated satisfactorily.
Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a
compact latch device in which levers in a door opening mechanism, a
locking mechanism and a child-proof mechanism are supported by two
shafts so that it can be manipulated satisfactorily.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the
preferred embodiments that will be detailed hereinbelow with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 and 2 are views illustrating an inner opening lever and a
child-proof lever of the prior art latch device;
FIG. 3 is a view illustrating components provided on the sliding
door;
FIG. 4 is a front view of a base plate of a relay assembly;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are a front view illustrating the relay assembly;
FIG. 7 is a rear view of the relay assembly;
FIG. 8 is a front view of a motorized actuator for changing over a
locking lever;
FIG. 9 is a front view of a child-proof lever;
FIG. 10 is a front view of the locking lever;
FIG. 11 is a front view of an inner opening lever;
FIG. 12 is a front view of an outer opening lever;
FIG. 13 is a view of a ratchet lever;
FIG. 14 is a status view illustrating an assembly of five
levers;
FIG. 15 is a front view illustrating the outer opening lever and
the inner opening lever;
FIG. 16 is a sectional view along line X--X in FIG. 6;
FIG. 17 is a sectional view along line Y--Y in FIG. 6;
FIG. 18 is a side view of a front latch unit;
FIG. 19 is a side view of a rear latch unit;
FIG. 20 is a bottom view of the rear latch unit; and
FIG. 21 is a front view of an open-position holder.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Explanation will be hereinbelow made of an embodiment of the
present invention with reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIG. 3, a vehicle sliding door A which is slidably
attached to a vehicle body B comprises a front latch unit C
provided at a front edge of the door A, a rear latch unit D
provided at a rear edge of the door A, an outside open handle E
provided at an outer surface of the door A, an inside open handle F
provided at an inner surface of the door A, and a relay assembly G
provided within the door A. As shown in FIG. 18, the front latch
unit C comprises a latch 43 adapted to be engaged with a striker 42
secured to the vehicle body B, and a ratchet 44 adapted to be
engaged with the latch 34 so as to hold the engagement between the
latch 43 and the striker 42, and the rear latch unit D comprises,
as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, a latch 46 adapted to be engaged with
a striker 45 secured to the vehicle body B, and a ratchet 47
adapted to be engaged with the latch 46 so as to hold the
engagement between the latch 46 and the striker 45. Both latch
units C, D hold the sliding door A at a closed position. It is
noted that the front latch unit C may be omitted in a certain
case.
The relay assembly G comprises a door opening mechanism, a locking
mechanism and a child-proof mechanism which will be described in
detail later. The relay assembly G is arranged between the two open
handles E, F and the two latch units C, D, and manipulating force
of both open handles E, F each is transmitted to both latch units
C, D through the door opening mechanism of the relay assembly
G.
The door A further has a key cylinder H which is provided at the
outer surface thereof and coupled to the locking mechanism, an
inside lock button J which is provided at the inner surface thereof
and coupled to the locking mechanism, a child-proof button K which
is provided at the front edge thereof and coupled to the
child-proof mechanism, and an open-position holder L for holding
the door A at a full-open position. It is noted that the key
cylinder may be omitted in a certain case.
The relay assembly G is shown in detail in FIGS. 4 to 17 and has a
metal base plate 1 fixed to a substantially center part of the
sliding door A. The base plate 1 may be composed of a single metal
plate or two metal plates 1a, 1b fixed together. In the case of
using the two plates, the fundamental components of the relay
assembly G would be attached to the main plate 1a while optional
components of the relay assembly G would be attached to the sub
plate 1b, so that if no optional components are required, the relay
assembly G can be small-sized. In the present invention, for
example, a motorized actuator 2 for releasing the open-position
holder L is fixed to the plate 1b as an optional component.
As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 16, the door opening mechanism comprises
an outer opening lever 4 and a ratchet lever 5, both of which are
rotatably attached to a front side of the base plate 1 by a
supporting shaft 3. A first arm 6 of the ratchet lever 5 is coupled
to the ratchet 44 of the front latch unit C by way of a rod or a
wire 7, and a second arm 8 of the ratchet lever 5 is coupled by way
of a rod or a wire 9 to a lever 48 of the rear latch unit D which
releases the ratchet 47 from the latch 45 when the ratchet lever 5
is rotated. A rod 11 has one end coupled to an elongated hole 10 of
the outer opening lever 4 with a lost-motion and the other end
coupled to the outside open handle E. The outer opening lever 4 and
the ratchet lever 5 are coupled to each other through the
intermediary of a locking pin 12 of the locking mechanism when the
the locking mechanism is in a unlocked condition so that the latch
units C, D are released by an opening operation of the outside open
handle E. However, in such a case that the locking mechanism is in
a locked condition, the rotational force of the outer opening lever
4 is not transmitted to the latch units C, D, and accordingly, the
sliding door A cannot be opened.
The locking mechanism has a locking lever 14 which is rotatably
attached to the front side of the base plate 1 through the
intermediary of an attaching shaft 13 as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and
17. A first arm 15 of the locking lever 14 is coupled to the inside
lock button J by way of a rod or a wire 16. A rod 18 has one end
coupled to an elongated hole 17 of the locking lever 14 with a
lost-motion, and the other end coupled to the key cylinder H. A
second arm 19 of the locking lever 14 is coupled to an outlet lever
21 of a motorized actuator 20 fixed to the base plate 1.
The locking lever 14 is changed over between the locked position
and the unlocked position, as well-known, by means of the key
cylinder H, the inside lock button J, or the motorized actuator 20.
A third arm 22 of the locking lever 14 is extended toward the
supporting shaft 3, and is superposed at its tip end with the
supporting shaft 3 when the locking lever 14 is in the unlocked
position. A slide link 23 has one end coupled to the tip end of the
third arm 22, and the other end provided with the locking pin 12
which is slidably engaged in an elongated hole 24 formed in the
first arm 6 of the ratchet lever 5. The pin 12 is further engaged
with a hook 25 formed on the outer opening lever 4 when the locking
lever 14 is in the unlocked position. Accordingly, in the unlocked
condition, the rotation of the outer opening lever 4 is transmitted
to the ratchet lever 5 through the intermediary of the pin 12.
However, in the locked condition, the pin 12 is released from the
hook 25, thereby the rotation of the outer opening lever 4 is not
transmitted to the ratchet lever 5.
The door opening mechanism further includes an inner opening lever
26 rotatably attached to the rear or reverse side of the base plate
1 by means of the supporting shaft 3, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 16.
An elongated hole 27 formed in the inner opening lever 26 is
coupled to one end of a rod 28 with a lost-motion, the other end of
which is coupled to the inside open handle F. The inner opening
lever 26 and the outer opening lever 4 are connected together
through the intermediary of a child pin 29 of the child-proof
mechanism when the child-proof mechanism is in a non-child proof
condition so that the outer opening lever 4 can be rotated by the
inner opening lever 26. However, in such a case that the
child-proof mechanism is in a child-proof condition, the rotational
force of the inner opening lever 26 is not transmitted to the outer
opening lever 4. Therefore, in the child-proof condition, the
sliding door A cannot be opened from the inside of the passenger
compartment of the vehicle.
The child-proof mechanism has a child-proof lever 30 which is
rotatably attached to the rear side of the base plate 1 by means of
the attaching shaft 13, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 17. A first arm 31
of the child-proof lever 30 is coupled to the child-proof button K
provided at the front edge of the door through the intermediary of
a rod or a wire 32. The child-proof lever 30 is changed over, as
well-known, between the child-proof position and the non-child
proof position by a manipulating force of the button K. A second
arm 33 of the child-proof lever 30 is extended toward the
supporting shaft 3 so as to be superposed with the shaft 3 when the
child-proof lever 30 is in the non-child proof position. A slide
link 34 has one end coupled to the tip end of the second arm 33,
and the other end provided with the child pin 29 which is slidably
engaged in an elongated hole 35 formed in the outer opening lever
4. Further, the pin 29 is engaged with a hook 36 formed on the
inner opening lever 26 when the child-proof lever 30 is in the
non-child-proof position. Accordingly, the rotational force of the
inner opening lever 26 is transmitted to the outer opening lever 4
through the intermediary of the pin 29 in the non-child-proof
condition. However, in the case of the child-proof condition, the
pin 29 is released from the hook 36, and accordingly, the rotation
force of the inner opening lever 26 is not transmitted to the outer
opening lever 4.
The open-position holder L for holding the door A at the full-open
position comprises a latch 38 which is engaged with a striker 37
fixed to the vehicle body B when the sliding door A is moved to the
full-open position, and a ratchet 39 for holding the engagement
between the latch 38 and the striker 37. The ratchet 39 is coupled
to the outer opening lever 4 through the intermediary of a rod or a
wire 40. Thus, when the open handle E or F of the door A is gripped
so as to pull the door A toward its closed position, the handle E
or F inevitably rotates the opening lever 4 to release the ratchet
39 from the latch 38. As a result, the door A is made to be free so
that the door A can be moved toward its closed position.
The actuator 2 is coupled to the opening lever 4 through the
intermediary of a rod 41, and accordingly, the actuator 2 can
release the holder L through the intermediary of the open lever
4.
As mentioned above, according to the present invention, three
levers of the door opening mechanism which consist of the two
opening levers 4, 26 and the ratchet lever 5, are journalled to the
base plate 1 by means of the single supporting shaft 3, and
further, two levers consisted of the locking lever 14 of the
locking mechanism and the child-proof lever 30 of the child-proof
mechanism, are rotatably journalled to the base plate 1 by means of
the single attaching shaft 13. Thus, a plurality of levers can
efficiently be attached to the base plate 1, and accordingly, the
relay assembly G can be made to be small-sized. Further, the
child-proof lever 30 is changed over between the child-proof
position and the non-child-proof position by rotating about the
attaching shaft 13, and accordingly, the feeling of the
manipulation can be satisfactory.
Further, according to the present invention, since the ratchet 39
of the open-position holder L is coupled to the outer opening lever
4, the mechanism for opening and closing the door A can be
integrated in the relay assembly G in a compact configuration.
* * * * *